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Hello Alumni of the 1990's!  Please post news and information about your lives and careers in this thread.  Thanks!

Best,
Rob Stolzer

Hi Everyone-
I just got the new UWSP Art and Design catalog and Rob's letter today and needed to post! It looks like the UWSP program is doing incredibly well.
This is Fred Herbst, back in the 90's I had glasses, a goatee and very little hair (now I have even less hair). I graduated with a BFA (emphasis in Sculpture) in 1994. That seems like a really long time ago! Then I went to graduate school at the University of North Texas and got my MFA in ceramics in 1998. Since 2000, I've been in Corning, New York. I'm an Associate Professor of Art at Corning Community College. Currently, I'm teaching ceramics and some art history at CCC. We've built two special wood-fired kilns at the studio, the first is an "anagama" (a style of kiln based on ancient Japanese kilns) that we fire for over 100 hours. The newest wood-fired kiln is a collaboration with the Corning Museum of Glass (an amazing world class art museum) We're rediscovering the lost art of wood-fired glass and firing pots at the same time. Living in Corning has some major art advantages! My own work is functional wood-fired pots. In the last ten years, I've had work in juried exhibitions all over the country, my pots end up travelling more than I do!
I have a blog that hasn't been updated recently (our semester just ended and I'm hoping to work on it this summer) but take a look:

http://threestonespottery.blogspot.com/

and I was featured on this website and podcast:
http://www.anagama-west.com/firing_log/archives/37

I think about my time at UWSP often when I'm working with my students. I really appreciate the amazing experience and help I got from all the great faculty I worked with like Dennis Angel, Rebecca Shelby, Rob Stolzer, Bob Erickson, Diane Bywaters, , Larry Ball, and Anne-Bridget Gary.

My contact information is on the Corning Community College website.
Best regards,
Fred Herbst

Fred,

Thanks very much for posting.  I cannot believe how much time has passed since you graduated!  I won't say that it seems like only yesterday, but it certainly doesn't seem like 14 years.  You might be interested to hear that we've started a warm glass program here, and are looking into a hot glass facility.  Kristin Thielking has been our sculpture professor for the past seven years or so, and introduced glass into the program.  It's been an exciting change for everyone involved in the 3D areas.  In fact, Kristin and two of our students recently visited Corning, as we're looking into a possible collaboration with the folks at the museum.  We would like a hot glass furnace that can be run as ecologically friendly as possible, and are looking into alternative fuel sources.  The folks at Corning have been incredibly helpful, and appear to be looking for these kinds of partnerships.

Thanks again for posting and continued success to you!

Best,
Rob

Hi Rob,
I knew Krisitin had introduced glass to UWSP. She was in a ceramics and glass invitational exhibition here a few years ago that I put together at our gallery and she gave me an update. Adding glass to your program is huge!

The CMOG people are incredible. They are always looking to expand their connections and help out where they can. We're working pretty closely on our new wood-fired glass and ceramics kiln. We're hoping to develop the design to be flexible enough for a small group of glass blowers and potters to fire over a weekend. It will also not be tied to any gas lines etc.  Our fuel is scrap wood from a local sawmill and a few tree services in town. There's no shortage of renewable fuel out here in Western New York.

I'd love to see the new UWSP facility, the pictures in the catalog looked great!

Have a good summer,
Fred Herbst